


Escape the Night – OET: Summer Camp from Hell

by Dede42



Series: Our Eternity Together - Delta's POV [9]
Category: Creepypasta - Fandom, Dangan Ronpa - All Media Types, Fandom RPF, Multi-Fandom, Original Work, Our ETerNity Together (Web Series AU)
Genre: F/F, Mind Control, SpongeBob SquarePants References, Summer Camp, campfire song, kumbaya, stepford campers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-02
Updated: 2020-09-11
Packaged: 2021-03-06 19:21:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 13
Words: 10,488
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26254063
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dede42/pseuds/Dede42
Summary: Delta and the group have arrived at what appeared to be your average summer camp, but not all appears to be as it seems. The campers are smiling too much to be normal and the camp counselor, Carol Dontchaknow, is acting super weird.Will the group uncover the creepy truth about the summer camp? Will Delta prove herself to be useful?
Relationships: ETNMystic/Ivy Flora (Mystic's OC)
Series: Our Eternity Together - Delta's POV [9]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1738468
Comments: 32
Kudos: 1





	1. PROLOGUE: SUMMER CAMP

**Author's Note:**

  * For [ETNMystic](https://archiveofourown.org/users/ETNMystic/gifts).
  * Inspired by [Our Eternity Together](https://archiveofourown.org/works/16768489) by [ETNMystic](https://archiveofourown.org/users/ETNMystic/pseuds/ETNMystic). 



> Hello, world and welcome back to Escape the Night!
> 
> It's time for the next installment. Onward!

**PROLOGUE: SUMMER CAMP**

*****

Growing up, I didn’t really do that much camping or attended the typical summer camp either. For me, it was Girl Scout Day Camp during the summer, going on family vacations to Yellowstone National Park and staying in a cabin, and it was when I started attending Young Women’s, that I got to actually attend Young Women’s camp and stayed in a tent that first year.

It wasn’t exactly a  _great_ experience, but it was an experience that I learned from, making sure that I didn’t make certain mistakes the next summer, and it was around this time that I started doing more camping related trips with my Girl Scout troop.

Because of these experiences, I picked up a lot of useful skills like starting a fire without matches, setting up tents, first aid/CPR training, and seeing all kinds of wildlife that I normally didn’t get to see when I was at home. I also learned the hard way that I needed to be sure to drink plenty of water during the summer in order to avoid being dehydrated, having a warm jacket for it can get cold fast up in the mountains once the sun went down, and having the right shoes to avoid getting blisters.

Yes, I’ve gained skills from my camping experiences, now if only the others would actually let me  _use_ these skills, or any other skills, it would make this less of a nightmare and more of an adventure.

I have  _skills!_ Let me use them!  _Please!_


	2. CHAPTER ONE: CREEPY CAMPERS

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, world and welcome back to Escape the Night!
> 
> It's time for the summer camp from hell! Onward!

**CHAPTER ONE: CREEPY CAMPERS**

*****

Golden light surrounded us all as we fell through the portal, where we were going, I honestly had _no_ idea, and it felt like we were falling for hours when-

_THUD!_

We all crash landed with grunts and yelps of pain from the shock going through our bodies, leaving us all stunned and breathless for several seconds.

Having landed face-first, I grunted as I forced myself to sit up on the grass and got a good look around at where it was that we ended up at, and my eyebrows disappeared into my bangs when I saw that we were surrounded by grass, trees, bushes, a large lake, and cabins. And…there were eyes were peeking out of the windows of the cabins.

_‘_ _Did we land in a summer camp?’_ I wondered, for the place did resemble the summer camps shown in TV shows and movies, and mentioned in books I’d read. The kind that I hadn’t ever gotten to attend, usually because of money reasons.

“Where are we?" Alice groaned.

"I dunno, but I don't think this is the land of fiction," Tristen groaned.

"Wherever it is," Candy Pop added. "I have a bad feeling about it.”

And no sooner were the words out of his mouth, did the doors to the cabins all opened, and out came a flood of boys and girls, all wearing camp uniforms, being lead by a tall woman. And it didn’t take very long for all of us to be surrounded.

“Oh boy! New campers!"

"Golly Gee! They look great!"

"Hot dog! New friends!"

"Hello, new campers!" the woman, who had a thick dialect, greeted us all. "Welcome to Camp Happy Sunshine! My name is Carol Dontchaknow!" And I could hear Dahlia whimpering behind me. "This camp is all about friends, fun, and free-frolicking, dontchaknow!”

_‘_ _Oh gosh,’_ I thought, _‘does she_ have _to end a sentence with her own last name?’_ And I had _strong_ a feeling that this was why Montana was whimpering.

“Hey, what's that on your vest?" Mystic asked, pointing to a gold fragment that was pinned to Carol’s vest, and I realized that it looked like a piece of the token we’d gotten earlier at the cost of Alex’s life.

Carol blinked and looked at the item in question. “Oh this?” she asked, casually brushing it with her fingers. “Just a piece a gold I found, dontchaknow!"

"Can we have it?" Mystic inquired.

Carol gave this some long thought. " _Weeeeeeeeeellllllllllllllllll_ , I suppose if ya spend maybe a week or so here at Camp Happy Sunshine, you can have it, dontchaknow!" she responded with a bright, but definitely _creepy_ , smile.

"Okay," Mystic said, shrugging.

"Mystic!" Alice gasped as Carol walked away. "Didn't you see how unnatural their smiles looked?"

“Yeah, it’s like the campers are robots or something,” I added.

"Hey, if spending a week at Camp Boy Howdy or whatever gets us a token piece, I think we can survive it,” Mystic countered. “I mean, how bad could it really be?”

I face-palmed. “Mystic…that’s just something that you should _never_ say,” I groaned, positive that things weren’t going to go well in this creepy place. “It’s up there with ‘piece of cake’.” But of course, I got ignored, and so we, very reluctantly on the part of Dahila, followed Carol and the campers to a cabin.

*****

When we all entered the cabin, we found waiting for us on the tables the camp uniforms, and it was quickly clear to me that _no one_ in this group was going to be caught dead in these outfits, not even _I_ wanted to wear a hideous pink polo shirt and khaki skirt.

“Oh there is _no way_ I’m wearing that,” I declared. “That skirt doesn’t even have pockets!”

“Oh, but it's a symbol of unity, dontchaknow!” Carol insisted, and poor Montana was clinging to Alice’s arm for dear life, plus it looked like she was either going to run away screaming or faint, so it was a toss-up of which she would do first.

“It's ugly," Mystic told her, scowling. "I especially don't like the bright-pink one. It hurts my eyes. Can I at least wear the blue one?"

Carol began to scold Mystic like she was a child. "But pink is for girls, and you're a girl, dontchaknow!"

"Gender is a scam, and I want my money back!" Bailey huffed.

Carol glared at them, but Bailey glared back before Carol huffed back. "Look, just put on the shirts."

"No!" Mystic stomped her foot. "I will _not_ wear that really stupid and, quite frankly, f*ing ugly uniform, even if you paid me!"

"Mystic, darling-" Genevieve began.

"No, no, no," Cecelia intervened. "I will _not_ let my darling Mystic wear such horrifically plebeian fibers. She and her friends deserve the very best.”

I was surprised to hear Cecelia say that, but the fact that she was on our side, it was actually a good thing…I think. Honestly, I still wasn’t sure if Cecelia could be entirely trusted, and I knew that trust was like a house of cards, taking time to build up.

“I'm with Cecelia on this," Mystic agreed. "I'm not wearing that and if you try to put it on me, I will take it off and burn it."

"Yeah, I am too," Lisbet added.

"Same," Alice agreed. "It's not my style at all."

“Definitely _not_ wearing that,” I declared. “And I don’t think that skirt would even _fit_ my body shape.”

Hearing this, as well as more "no-way-in-hell-will-i-wear-that-god-awful-uniform" from Candy Pop, Carol stomped off with a grimace on her face.

Mystic turned to the group, an uneasy expression on her face. "Alice, Wynter, anyone else who wants to, huddle up."

"Where?" Bailey asked.

"Anywhere.”

And with that, I followed them out of the cabin, not wanting to stay there a minute longer with those so-called uniforms that were too much like the camp uniforms from that summer camp in _Addams Family Values_ , and I didn’t want to be left out of the loop either.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't like being left out of the loop, it isn't fun to find out about something either the last minute or well after the fact. Bye for now! R&R everyone!


	3. CHAPTER TWO: MAKING A PLAN

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, world and welcome back to Escape the Night!
> 
> It's time to make a plan, but will the plan work? Onward!

**CHAPTER TWO: MAKING A PLAN**

*****

Leaving the cabin, we went in search of a place to talk, and we all ended up behind the dining hall just as the sun was starting to set. Mosquitos were starting to come out, and I was wishing that I had some bug spray right now. The only thing I had in terms of medicine was my inhaler, for there was  _no way_ I was going to leave it behind.

“Anyone else feel off-put by the uniforms?" Mystic asked. "As in, extremely put off?"

"Yeah," Ivy nodded. "Felt like there was somefin' wrong wif them."

"Something did seem really off," Alice agreed. "And I feel like it's not just the color."

"No, it's definitely not," I agreed. "I think that the color's just a distraction, but a distraction from what I'm not so sure.AndI will say that I’ve been getting serious _Addams Family Values_ vibes from this place, but not in a good way.”

"Hey, I'm not entirely sure if this is related, but I did find it odd and off-putting," Wynter piped up. "Anyone else notice that weird sun patch on the shirts?"

"The creepy, wide-smiling one with the dimples and big, fat cheeks?" Mystic asked, getting a nod from Wynter, and I recalled that patch had been on all of the shirts, including the ones worn by the campers. "Yeah, I agree. It's extremely off-putting."

"Am really scared by this whole thing," Bailey shivered. "How did we end up here and not the Land of Fiction?"

"I don't know,” Mystic said, thinking. “Maybe I wasn't specific enough."

"Yeah, you kinda just said a portal," Ivy nodded. "Prob'ly need te say a portal te where yer goin'."

"So then what are we gonna do?" I asked.

"Leave?" Alice suggested.

"That seems extremely dangerous,” Mystic objected. “We barely know where we are. And besides, maybe we'll be able to survive a week here. I really doubt it can get worse.”

I grimaced. “Mystic, please stop saying that.”

“Howdy-doody, fellow campers!" a boy exclaimed loudly causing us all to jump in shock. "Gee willickers, isn't camp just the bee's knees? We're all gonna go over to the lake and sing super-duper happy campfire songs and roast marshmallows! You should join us!" And he ran off.

"Okay, you know what?" Mystic gulped fearfully. "New plan. We are going to steal the token piece from Carol and get the hell out of here."

"But how are we gonna do that?" Alice asked.

Mystic sighed. "I'm afraid we have no choice. We have to go to that gathering at the lake.”

“Yeah…” I grumbled. “Things are going to get worse.”

*****

Returning to the rest of the group, Mystic shared with them the plan about going to the gathering by the lake and getting the token fragment away from Carol. “So that’s what happened.”

“Oh thank goodness!” Envy exclaimed, looking relieved that we weren’t going to spend a week in this place.

“I thought you were gonna make us stay here,” Candy Pop sobbed in relief.

“Here?" Mystic stammered, eyes going wide. "No, not here! I'm not _that_ cruel."

"Yer not cruel at all, love," Ivy assured her. "Yer very sweet.” And Mystic’s face went red.

_‘_ _Ooh, I think Mystic has feelings for Ivy,’_ I thought, and given how Ivy has been acting around the blonde, I had a feeling that Ivy was in love with Mystic, and you know what? If they’re happy together, then they  _deserved_ to be together.

“But why do we have to go to the bonfire lake thing with those Stepford campers?" Candy Pop asked, shivering.

"It could be our quickest chance to take the token piece,” Mystic pointed out. “I don't want to know what Carol does or doesn't wear when she sleeps, so I think we need to take it at the bonfire."

"But how are we going to get it without being caught?" Hazel wondered.

“There’s a lot of those creepy campers,” I pointed out, “and it won’t be easy.”

Mystic gave this some thought. "Well, Envy's a pretty quick retriever. Maybe he could sneak it away."

Envy looked confused. "You want _me_ to do it?"

"Well, yeah," Mystic admitted. "I mean, you snatched that piece from Sugarplum so quickly that it was like it was never even there. Why _wouldn't_ I ask you to do the job?"

He looked kinda sheepish and it made Alice giggle.

"Well," Mystic sighed. "We should probably get going to the Stepford gathering."

"Erm," Ivy hesitated. "Actually, I wanna ask ye somefin in private, love. We can catch up wif the ovvers if that's okay wif ye."

Mystic shrugged. "I guess. We'll see you guys in a bit.” And they walked off together.

I watched them go, but I wasn’t upset, for I was sure that Ivy wanted some alone time with Mystic, and I wasn’t about to interrupt that for  _anything_ …saved for a serious emergency that is.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah, I can tell that Mystic and Ivy need alone time, and I want them to have that alone time.
> 
> Bye for now! R&R everyone!


	4. CHAPTER THREE: SING-A-LONG TORTURE PART ONE

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, world and welcome back to Escape the Night!
> 
> Trapped in a creepy summer camp and about to have a campfire sing-a-long. Onward!

**CHAPTER THREE: SING-A-LONG TORTURE PART ONE**

*****

We were heading for the glowing campfire, where the campers and creepy Carol were waiting, and the others realized that Mystic wasn’t with the group. I chose not to say that I’d seen her leave with Ivy, for even if I did say anything, I was probably going to be ignored.

“Has anyone seen Mystic?” Colleen pitched above the group’s chatter.

“Where’d she go?” Gabbie asked, upon looking and finding no trace. “We can’t do this thing without her.”

“Maybe she went with Ivy?” Ro said slowly. “I don’t think she’s here, either…”

“Well, we’d better find her.”

MatPat frowned. “I don’t think it’ll take the campers long to notice us-”

“I’ll go,” Alice volunteered.

“Come on!” Sugarbelle exclaimed, tugging on Alice’s wrist while Dahlia looked panicked.

“Sugarbelle!"

“Find her!!”

“Please don’t leave me…” Montana pleaded, tightening her grip on Alice’s arm.

“Uh…um…” Alice looked around and finally pointed at Envy. “Y-you can hang off of Envy for a while! You don’t mind, right?”

“What?” Envy asked and then his face went bright green when Montana glomped onto his arm. “Whoah-!?”

“I’m sorry!” Alice cried over her shoulder as she was suddenly pulled off towards the camp by Sugarbelle.

And five seconds after they left, we were surrounded by the creepy campers, and, despite our protests, we all were herded toward the campfire, where Carol was waiting for us to arrive. We all were directed to logs to sit on, and, after being tugged away by two campers, Montana was forced to sit next to Carol.

_‘_ _This is going to be a_ long  _night,’_ I thought, watching as Montana twitched  _a lot_ , and I was almost certain that she was either going to bolt or yeet herself into the fire…once again it was a toss up of which she would do first.

*****

I was about ready to run from the area screaming, largely because of the laughter of the campers, for it was _so_ artificial and forced, and then Mystic showed up with Ivy, Alice, and Sugarbelle, all of whom were surrounded by the campers and guided to sit around the bonfire with the rest of the group and the creepy campers.

“Whoopdee-doo! We have new friends!”

“Golly Gee, lookie here, you just arrived for the s'mores and campfire songs, dontchaknow!” Carol exclaimed with a delighted smile on her face, and then she pulled out an acoustic guitar. "Who's ready fer the campfire songs, dontchaknow?”

“ _HOOORAYYYYY!!!!_ ” the campers cheered, making me cringe and poor Candy Pop was clearly on the verge of crying, and for once I felt sorry for the demon.

Carol scrummed a C-chord on the guitar, and she began playing, singing a certain song that sent a chill down my spine.

“ _Kumbaya my Lord, kumbaya_ ,” Carol sang and almost immediately, the campers all joined in.

“ _Kumbaya my Lord, kumbaya_  
 _Kumbaya my Lord, kumbaya_  
 _Oh Lord, kumbaya_.”

None of us were amused by the song or even willing to sing, and I was feeling like Wednesday Addams when she, her brother, and the boy who had a crush on her, were cornered by the fence and everyone started singing _Kumbaya_.

Of course, it got worse when Carol went onto the second verse, and made a change to it.

“ _Dontchaknow my Lord, dontchaknow  
Dontchaknow my Lord, dontchaknow __  
__Dontchaknow my Lord, dontchaknow_ _  
_ _Oh Lord, dontchaknow_ _._ ”

_‘Oh my gosh!’_ I thought, agreeing with Briar, who looked like she was on the verge of a complete breakdown. _‘That’s not how the song goes!’_ Carol continued singing and it occurred to me, that she was most likely going to have a mental breakdown, and I knew that she wasn’t going to be the only one.

“ _Someone's singing Lord, dontchaknow_  
 _Someone's singing Lord, dontchaknow_  
 _Someone's singing Lord, dontchaknow_  
 _Oh Lord, dontchaknow_.”

It wasn’t lost on me that only Carol and the campers were singing, and the rest of us were quiet as mice.

“ _Someone's laughing, Lord, dontchaknow_  
 _Someone's laughing, Lord, dontchaknow_  
 _Someone's laughing, Lord, dontchaknow_  
 _Oh Lord, dontchaknow._ _”_

None of us were laughing, and poor Ro looked disturbed by their Stepfordian cheeriness.  
  


"This is some religious cult b*lls*," Silvia whispered to Mystic, who nodded.

  
  
“ _Someone's crying, Lord, dontchaknow_  
 _Someone's crying, Lord, dontchaknow_  
 _Someone's crying, Lord, dontchaknow_  
 _Oh Lord, dontchaknow._ _”_

Poor Sasha was crying, and Alice went over and hugged her tightly.  
  
“ _Someone's praying, Lord, dontchaknow_  
 _Someone's praying, Lord, dontchaknow_  
 _Someone's praying, Lord, dontchaknow_  
 _Oh Lord, dontchaknow._ _”_

_  
__‘Yeah, I’m praying that we get the heck out of here as soon as possible,’_ I thought.  
  


“ _Someone's sleeping, Lord, dontchaknow_  
 _Someone's sleeping, Lord, dontchaknow_  
 _Someone's sleeping, Lord, dontchaknow_  
 _Oh Lord, dontchaknow_ _.”_

_Oh Lord, dontchaknow_.”

The song was over and I, plus some others, all sighed with relief that the torturous song was _finally_ over.

Or so we thought.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Make it stop, make it stop, make it stop!!!!


	5. CHAPTER FOUR: SING-A-LONG TORTURE PART TWO

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, world and welcome back to Escape the Night!
> 
> Will the group get the token piece and escape? Onward!

**CHAPTER FOUR: SING-A-LONG TORTURE PART TWO**

*****

“Thank God that torture is over," Tristen gasped.

"Okay everyone!" Carol the She-Devil announced. "Let's sing it again from the top, dontchaknow!”

_‘_ _Spoke too_ soon _, Tristen,’_ I thought, tensing up, and everyone else in the group was tensing up as well, especially Montana.

I saw Mystic nod to Ivy, who was quick to snatch the guitar away from Carol, and I had a strong feeling that they were going to do something drastic so that Envy could swipe the token piece. _‘Whatever it is,’_ I thought, _‘do it quick before we all go mental!’_

“F* this,” Mystic called out. "We're not singing that again. We need to get some _real_ campfire music going.” She stood up as Ivy began playing the guitar. “I call this one _The Campfire Song Song,_ " she added and started singing a song that I wasn’t actually familiar with, but I considered it to be a _big_ improvement.

_“_ _Let's gather 'round the campfire, and sing our campfire song.  
Our c-a-m-p-f-i-r-e s-o-n-g- song.  
And if you don't think that we can sing it faster then you're wrong,  
but it'll help if you just sing alooong_.”

Candy Pop grinned and started chiming in. “ _Bum, bum, buuum_ …”

Mystic briefly nodded at Envy and then she started singing a bit faster as the rest of us got ourselves ready to bolt the second that the song was done.

“ _c-a-m-p-f-i-r-e- s-o-n-g song.  
c-a-m-p-f-i-r-e- -s-o-n-g- song,  
And if you don't think that we can sing it faster then you're wrong,  
But it'll help if you just sing alooong.  
  
_ _"_ _c-a-m-p-f-i-r-e- -s-o-n-g- song  
_ _"_ _Alice!_ _"_

Alice was a little startled, but she attempted to join in immediately.

_“_ _Song! -c-a-m-p-f-i-r-e-"_

Mystic did a quick look around and pointed at one of the boy campers, who was mindlessly staring at nothing.

_“_ _Uhhh.....this guy!"_

The boy camper didn’t even react, he just kept staring at the campfire, and I was disgusted to see that he was also drooling. Gross!

_“_ _Gooood!"_

_"It'll heeeelp, it'll heeeeeelp, if you just sing aloooooong!"_

As Mystic sang the last long note, Candy Pop got a drum from somewhere and _smashed_ it on top of Carol's head, knocking her out cold, while Ivy smashed the guitar, and then Mystic let out a heavy metal-style yell.

  
  
 _“_ _Oooh yeah_ _!_ ”

And we all booked it out of there so fast, that I was sure that we’d left Road-runner styled dust trails behind.

*****

Night had fallen, but the moon was bright, and that made it possible for us to see as we ran like the Flash away from the campfire, the creepy campers, and Carol, who’d been knocked out when Candy Pop had smashed that drum over her head.

We all ran quite a ways before slowing down in order to catch our breathes, and good thing, too, I’d been worried that I end up having an asthma attack.

Mystic turned to Envy with a hopeful look. “Did you get it?" she asked him.

Envy smirked and held up the piece.

"Hell yeah!" Mystic whispered.

We were _all_ thrilled, having managed to get the piece without anyone dying, and I was about to suggest getting the hell out of there-

“S*!” Mystic screamed, and stopped cold, her hand to her neck.

I also felt something stinging hit my neck and I yelped, clasping at it. “Ow!” I removed my hand, finding that I was holding a small black dart, and my insides went cold. “Oh crap…” I dropped the dart and staggered, feeling dizzy as the sedative entered my bloodstream.

Mystic and the others were already collapsing, Envy was staggering, and I saw approaching shadowy figures before I also collapsed onto the ground and everything went black and silent.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Dang it! So much for that plan. Bye for now! R&R everyone!


	6. CHAPTER FIVE: N.O. TO BRAINWASHING!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, world and welcome back to Escape the Night!
> 
> Sorry for the late update, but I had a busy day with my client and other stuff. Onward!

**CHAPTER FIVE: N.O. TO BRAINWASHING!**

*****

When I began regaining consciousness, my head was throbbing something fierce, I was definitely lying on something, but I couldn’t move my arms or legs, which had me suspecting that I was strapped down, and when I opened my eyes, which were blurry at first until I did some blinking, I saw that we were in a lab of some kind.

“What the-?” I mumbled, trying to get up, but I couldn’t since there were leather straps restraining my arms and legs.

“Where are we!?”

“I want to get out of here!” Montana wailed and she was crying something fierce.

_‘_ _You and me both,’_ I thought, noting that Envy wasn’t moving, which had me fearful…until I realized that he was probably playing possum, and that meant that he could probably free us all the first chance he could get.

“Ow,” Alice grumbled and then she shouted to Mystic, who was the last one to start waking up. “Mystic! Wake up!”

Mystic finally woke up and opened her eyes. “Wha…where are we?”

_`“Yer in my lab dontchaknow!”`_

I froze when I heard Carol’s voice over the wall speaker, I looked around the lab, and then I spotted her, along with her zombie campers, standing outside a window and she was speaking into a mic so that we could hear her.

“No more," Hecuba wept. " _Please_ no more 'dontchaknows.'"

"Okay, you crazy b*!" Candy Pop snapped. "What the f* do you want with us?"

_`"Oh, we wantcha ta join our little community, dontchaknow!"`_

_‘Not in_ this _lifetime, sister,’_ I thought, testing to see if I could get one wrist free of the straps, but they were too secured.

"Um, what makes you think we'll want to?" Alice asked.

_`"Once the brain implants are implanted and activated, they'll make ya be more than happy ta join us, dontchaknow."`_

"So you wanna turn us into mindless smiling zombies?" Mystic snapped.

_`"Oh ya make it sound so terrible, dontchaknow. I prefer the term happy campers, dontchaknow."`_

"Same s*!" Lisbet called out.

"I don't wanna be part of this camp!" I exclaimed. "I've got a job in the real world. My boss is gonna kill me if I don't show up!" _‘Well two jobs, but they don’t need to know that.’_

"Really?" Briar asked. " _That_ is your biggest concern?"

I shot her a look. "It's a valid one!"

"But not exactly important to this s* right now."

I glowered at her. "Mind your language please."

"Mystic has been throwing around the F-word casually the past 13 installments," Anniken added. "I think that Briar saying the word 's*' is pretty tame by comparison.”

I just rolled my eyes, not even bothering to remind them that I didn’t join up until toward the end of the 8 th installment.

_`“It won't take long anyhow, dontchaknow,”`_ Carol promised. _`“Just a little pinch, then a shock, and then you're happy as a clam, dontchaknow. Well, have fun, dontchaknow.”`_ And she left while two zombie campers went about setting up a machine that, I suspected, was going to do the implanting if we didn’t get the heck out of there first.

“Looks like it's time to tango on out of here," Mystic whispered. "Ivy, Envy, you awake?

"I never went to sleep," Envy responded with a sigh, proving me right that he’d been faking. "It takes more than that to make me sleep."

"I didn't eivver," Ivy added. "I been infected wif cocktails a sedatives, poisons, 'allucinogenics, an' mind control drugs, sometimes all at the same time. That dart ain't s*."

"Okay, you're gonna have to tell me all of this later," Envy stammered.

"Are your vines free?" Mystic asked.

"Not exactly, but I can still use them."

"Same 'ere," Ivy added.

"Okay, you two get yourselves out, then move onto the rest of us," Mystic requested, only to have Ivy use her vines to free Mystic, resulting in her falling on the floor, and Envy did the same for Alice, so now they were both freed.

"Thanks, Envy!" Alice exclaimed.

"Thanks, Ivy."

"No problem, love," Ivy flirted.

Ivy and Envy both then worked on theirs while Alice and Mystic went around freeing the rest of us from the restraints – well, I _almost_ didn’t get freed from the restraints since I was being overlooked, and I’d been calling out for help. I was staring to think I would be left behind, when Ines freed me, and boy did it feel _good_ to be freed.

Now it was time to get out of there, retrieve the piece…again, and find a way out of the camp itself for somewhere else… I hoped.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to Ines getting Delta freed. Bye for now! R&R everyone!


	7. CHAPTER SIX: HEROES VS. ZOMBIE CAMPERS

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, world and welcome back to Escape the Night!
> 
> Time for the battle to begin! Onward!

**CHAPTER SIX: HEROES VS. ZOMBIE CAMPERS**

*****

It was at that _very_ moment that the zombie campers working the machine realized that we all were freed and were trying to get out of the lab.

_`“Good golly goshings!”`_ one of the campers exclaimed through the live mic. _`“They got out!!!”`_

Mystic ran forward and tried to ram her head through the window, but bounced off of it instead, leaving her dazed.

“There's a door right there," Ines chuckled, pointing to my left.

Mystic blushed when she saw it. "Oh." She then yanked the door opened and rushed out, with the rest of us following her, and grateful that Carol hadn't locked the doors.

*****

The second that we were out of the lab, Mystic lunged herself at the one who had spoken up and tackled her to the ground, her head hitting against the wood. The other campers tried to pry her off of her, but she dug her nails into their arms and her elbows into their chests.

I ran forward, wrapped my arms around the chest of one of the zombie campers and dragged her away, grunting when she struggled, but I didn’t let go until I was able to toss her into the lab, and I kept doing that to any campers I was able to grab before I finally shut and locked the door to keep them from getting back out and trying to stop us.

"F* you, creepy campers!" Cedar snapped as they grabbed the neck of another camper.

"Uhhh…am scared," Bailey exclaimed. "Am a very, very scared bear."

Alice swept them into her arms and handed them off to Envy who put them in a corner while he fought off other campers.

"Take that, Stepford Smilers!" Ambrosi spat at another camper.

Hecuba took two campers and bashed their heads together. "This is for all of those stupid dontchaknows!"

I ran past Mystic to stop a camper from getting her from behind, while Mystic was staring at Taylor, who wasn't doing anything. She was just…standing in the corner, watching.

"Taylor, get your ass in here!" Mystic yelled.

Taylor shrugged. "Seems like you have a handle on things."

"Not really!" Silvia exclaimed as she tried to fight off swarms of camper zombies with Tristen and Erica. "We're gonna need every set of hands we can get."

"Ditto," Parris added as they, Hyacinthe, and Jaiden fought off another horde. "These campers have as bad a bite as a bark, if not worse."

I was in agreement with the others as I helped fight the campers that hadn’t run off. “Taylor, for the love of God! Help out!”

"Just keep trying," Taylor said.

"We don't have time for trying," Montana hissed as she and Briar were trying to kick back a horde. "Everyone's gotta do something."

"Orpheus isn't doing anything," Taylor argued gesturing to the guy hiding under the control panel. "Why are you just going for me?"

"I'm hiding to save my a*, b*," he whispered harshly. "I'm not much of a fighter."

"What if I'm not much of a fighter either?"

"Will you two shut up?" Wynter snapped as she and Dooper were ringing two of the campers' necks. "Arguing can come later. Right now we've got zombie campers on our asses."

"I wish we had Nanami-san," Alice gulped.

“I wish Nanami-san was here, too,” I agreed, missing the angel.

"I'm glad we don't," Hecuba scoffed.

The camper suddenly shook her head, and I noticed something fall out of her ear. She blinked and opened her eyes. "What the hell?" she murmured, a bit dazed.

At the same time, Montana had done the same to another camper except up against the wall. So did Sasha, Haven, Darby, Lacey, and Sequoia. All of them were just as confused as this one.

"Don't let her go," Hecuba warned. "It could be a trap."

"No s*," Rene said sarcastically. "Really?"

"Who the hell are you?" Sequoia asked her camper, and they looked stunned. "Don't play dumb," she snapped. "I asked you a question; who the hell are you?"

"I'd like to ask you the same question," they groaned. "I'm Trigorin."

"I'm Sequoia. What do you remember?"

"I don't know," Trigorin shrugged. "I was brought to this camp, I felt a pinch and a zap. Next thing I know, I'm here."

"So they fell victim to Carol, huh?" I asked.

"Unless it's a trap," Montana growled at her camper.

"Hey, hey! Cool it," her camper began to sweat. "I'm Thanasis. I remember just as much as Trig does."

"Who the f* names their kid Trigorin?" Azura scoffed.

"Clearly someone with a love of Chekhov," Mystic defended.

"Yeah," Trig agreed. "My parents are big theatre fanatics."

"I am the seagull!" someone shrieked panicked, and a girl shot up from the floor.

"Who the f* is this?" Candy Pop asked.

"Oh," the girl gulped clearly embarrassed. "I'm Nina. Where's Trigorin?"

"Nina! You okay?" Trig yelled.

"Did you not just hear her reference?" Thanasis sighed. "She's right there."

"Okay, as much as I love meeting everyone," Aoibhe snapped. "We've got a b* named Carol to stop."

Mystic heard a groan and saw that the one she was holding down was coming to.

"Is that Sybille?" Thanasis asked eagerly.

"Thanny?" the camper below Mystic groaned tiredly. "What happened?"

"Sybille!"

"Who all are you?" Mystic exclaimed, trying to wrap her mind around this situation, and she wasn’t the only one.

"I'm Sybille," the girl below her said. "I don't know how long I've been here – is that Joey Graceffa?"

"Joey?" several of the newly-awakened campers gasped.

"Don't tell me," Dooper groaned. "More ETN writers?"

I shrugged. “Maybe…”

"Probably just to create filler for the chapters," Stella shrugged.

"Oh, a meta joke," Tristen exclaimed. "I don't think I've heard one of those in a while."

"Seriously, I need whatever drugs you're taking," Dooper exclaimed.

"I sympathize with Dooper," Lenox added. "A lot of us can barely get a word in edgewise."

“That’s for sure,” I muttered.

"We can argue about that later!" Lisbet snapped. "We need to find Carol."

"Why?" Envy asked confused.

"Because she probably took the token piece from us."

"Token piece?" Nina asked.

"Long story," Ines sighed.

"Let's get going!"

And with that, we rushed out the door.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Time to run again! Bye for now! R&R everyone!


	8. CHAPTER SEVEN: I GET GOT!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, world and welcome back to Escape the Night!
> 
> Happy Labor Day! Although, I rather stay indoors due to all the smoke coming from the California fires, and smoke coming from a fire caused by idiots doing sharp shooting in a canyon to the south that had a lot of dry grass.
> 
> Ok, enough about real life. Onward!

**CHAPTER SEVEN: I GET GOT!**

*****

The group, the restored campers, and I exited the lab, and we all were bent on finding Carol to make her pay and get the token piece back.

“Let's take down that batty b*!" Aoibhe exclaimed.

"Where would we find her, though?" Eva asked.

"I'm trying to think," Nina exclaimed. "Uhhhh, probably the counselor's cabin?"

"Where's that?" Teala asked.

"Uhhh, I don't remember…"

"Great," Rene sighed. "Now we're stuck."

"Just look," Sugarbelle suggested.

"Look where?" Envy asked.

"Just look through camp!”

I sighed at the confused expressions, clearly they didn’t know the obvious location for the counselor's cabin, and that meant that I could prove myself. _‘Providing that they will actually_ listen _to me for a change.’_

“It might be our best chance," Mystic said, shrugging. "Most of us are either new here or were too hypnotized to remember where."

"Wait, I was a girl scout at one point!" I exclaimed, and they all looked at me while I kept going. "And whenever we went to summer camp, I noticed that the counselor's cabin was always closest to the lake."

"That's genius!" Mystic gasped, and I beamed. "Okay, so that narrows things down for us."

_‘Yup, I’m right and I know it,’_ I thought, pleased with myself.

"What if it's different this time?" Ines wondered.

"It's worth a shot," Alice answered. "Envy, you wanna go with me?"

"Sure."

We split up into groups, I was with Ines and I was pleased that I was proving that I could be helpful and useful.

*****

My group headed to the lake and to where the counselor's cabin was located, proving that I was right about the location, and we carefully approached the place, looking for some sign that Carol was there before trying to get inside.

I approached the cabin, stepped onto the porch, and I carefully peered through the window, looking for some sign that Carol was there.

I couldn’t see a living soul, or even a mind-controlled camper for that matter, and I turned to let the others know – when I suddenly got grabbed from behind by several pairs of hands!

“Help!” I screamed, struggling in the grips of the campers that managed to sneak up on me, and they dragged me toward the door of the cabin, which was now wide open. “Let go! Help!” And I ended up getting tossed into the cabin with the door slamming shut behind us.

*****

I landed on the wooden floor with a pained grunt, and I rolled onto my back, sitting up to find myself surrounded by the campers – and Carol was standing next to the door with that creepy smile on her face.

I tried to get up, but I got dog-piled by the campers, and I put up a fight as much as I could, managing to knock away some of them – but I was eventually hog-tied and subdued.

_‘_ _So much for being useful,’_ I thought as I was pulled up and dragged over to the other side of the room, where several of the mind-controlled campers pulled out sharp-looking knives and pointed them at me, making it clear that if I tried to get free, I was going to get sliced, and one of the knives was close enough to my nose, that I was starting to go cross-eyed.

_‘_ _I figure out where the cabin was located,’_ I thought, trying not to cry from a mixture of fear and frustration,  _‘and just as I’m proving myself to everyone,_ this  _happens to me.’_

My luck was just getting worse and worse with every second that passed.

I really, really, _really_ hoped that the others would be able to come save me, but I was worried that if there was a challenge, and if I was seen like this, I would probably get voted for…again. I didn’t know who voted for me back at the North Pole, but it was possible that if that person or persons saw me tied up, they would vote for me if there was another final death challenge.

I _so_ didn’t want to get get voted for a second time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Great, I do something useful, and I ended up getting captured by zombie campers. Bye for now! R&R everyone!


	9. CHAPTER EIGHT: VOTING TIME AGAIN

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, world and welcome back to Escape the Night!
> 
> Oh dear, Delta got got, just when she did something useful. Can she be saved? Onward!

**CHAPTER EIGHT: VOTING TIME AGAIN**

*****

The campers were still guarding me when I heard the door to the cabin open, followed by footsteps, shouts, scuffling, yelps of pains, and thuds as each of my friends, plus the campers we’d freed of the mind-controlling implants, were tied up and thrown to the floor.

I couldn’t help but flinch at each thud, and I realized with how the campers were standing, they were blocking me from view so that I couldn’t see my friends and they couldn’t see me either. So, all I could do was lay there and listened to what was going on.

“So glad you decided to come, dontchaknow!” Carol exclaimed and poor Briarwhimpered.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever," Orpheus grumbled, and I bet _anything_ that he was rolling his eyes. "Just get to the end of the villain speech already."

"But it's time for camp stories, dontchaknow."

"I swear to God, I will _end_ you if you say that one more time," Parris growled, and several of the others agreed.

"Look, I don't know what kind of game you're playing, but it's not one we're interested in," Aoibhe snapped. "Where's our friend Delta?"

_‘Thanks for remembering me, Aoi,’_ I thought, for I’d been wondering if anyone was going to ask about me or not.

"Oh, she's fine, dontchaknow."

"No," Ines snapped. "I don't think she _is_ fine. If she _is_ fine, then where the f* is she?”

Carol must’ve gestured to the campers, for they moved aside to reveal me lying on the floor, hog-tied and knives being pointed at my by the other campers.

“Hi guys,” I said, feeling helpless and useless on a whole new level.

“Let her go!" Lacey snapped, and I felt grateful that she cared, even in this grim situation.

"Why would I wanna do that dontchaknow?" Carol inquired smugly.

"Because if you don't," Sequoia exclaimed. "We'll kick your butt!"

Carol laughed. "How are you gonna do that when you're all tied up dontchaknow?"

"We'll find a way," Alice said.

"Enough of this, Carol!" Thanasis snapped back. "You've taken weeks from us, ones that we can never get back!"

"It was for your own good dontchaknow."

"If it was for our own good, why did you have to put us under mind control?" a girl named Audley asked. "You could've just asked us if we wanted to be at a summer camp."

"No one ever wants to go to my summer camp dontchaknow!"

"I can't imagine why," Orpheus snarked, and I was in agreement with him, having been thinking the same thing.

"Wait, what the hell are you gonna do to us now?" Thanasis wondered aloud.

"Put you under my control dontchaknow,” Carol replied and gestured to the campers. “Guards, you know what to do dontchaknow."

They began advancing on the group, armed with syringes, and I cringed, fearing that we all were going to end up becoming zombie campers.

"Wait!" Nina shouted frantically. "If this is just like _Escape the Night,_ why don't we do a challenge? The losers can become your Stepford smilers for as long as you want them or something."

Carol gave this a few moments' thought. " _Weeeeeeelllll_ …I suppose….okay! We'll set up a summer camp gauntlet. Send in sixteen of you. Guards, untie them all dontchaknow." And I was relieved, along with everyone else, as our bonds came undone. "You can go back to the dining hall to decide dontchaknow."

Ines helped me up, and we all immediately zoomed on out of there and over to the dining hall.

*****

By the time we all got to the dining hall, we all were sore, tired, and I was sure that we all were seriously  _freaking out_ over the fact that we would have to vote each other into another final death challenge.

“I can't believe we're doing this again," Joey said somberly.

"Another gauntlet," DeStorm affirmed. "We're voting in 16 of us."

"Okay before we do," Mystic said, sinking into a chair. "I think we should figure out who we should keep out of the voting pile. I, for one, do not want to go in. I have scoliosis and my legs are killing me.”

"Same," Aoibhe agreed.

"I think we should also take out those who were under her control prior to this," I suggested, nodding to the campers that we’d freed earlier, and some of them smiled at me gratefully. "It wouldn't be fair to them if we just sent them back in."

"I agree," Alice nodded.

"Same," Envy said.

"I think it'd also be fair to keep out those of us who were in the previous challenge," Mystic said.

"I second that," Lauren piped up.

"So that means Mystic, Alice, Envy, Lauren, Oli, Matpat, and Ro aren't eligible for a vote," Joey said.

"Okay, who was freed from her control?" Eva asked. "Because if we're gonna want to avoid voting for them, I'd like to know who they are."

"I think it's…Sybille, Thanasis, Trigorien, Nina, and Audley," Mystic counted. "Did I miss anyone?"

A small, quiet girl raised her hand. "I'm Yana."

"She was the one I was holding down," Rene vouched.

"Okay, so that was six out of how many campers?" Mystic asked.

"There were ten of us when we arrived," Yana told us. "But I think there might've been more. We were just one of the first groups."

"Did you ever see anyone else come in?" Sasha asked.

Yana shook her head. "I'd probably blacked out by that time."

"So that's thirteen out," Lyra exclaimed. "That means the voting pool is still open. I think we should limit it down even more."

"Are you sure?" Teala gulped. "We should make sure we're keeping the best people in the group."

"I really think we should just vote," Mystic said, sighing. "It'll be better now than never."

Calliope pulled out a ton of tarot cards. "I think we all know how this works," she said grimly.

Exchanging grim looks, one by one, we all went up and voted.

I wasn’t looking forward to voting, especially since there was a  _very_ strong possibility that I would be voted for since I’d gotten caught earlier, and if I  _did_ go into the final death challenge, there was the strong possibility that I would end up dying.

I didn’t  _want_ to die, I didn’t want to be mind-controlled, and I didn’t want this to happen to  _any_ of my friends either.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm not a fan of the voting, and I'm scared that I'm going to be voted for…again. Bye for now! R&R everyone!


	10. CHAPTER NINE: I GET VOTED…AGAIN.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, world and welcome back to Escape the Night!
> 
> Yup, it's time to see who gets voted into the final death challenge this time. Onward!

**CHAPTER NINE: I GET VOTED…AGAIN.**

*****

Once everyone had voted and had returned to wherever they’d been sitting or standing, we watched as Calliope gathered up the selected cards.

“Alright,” she said with a sigh. “I will now shuffle and draw out sixteen to compete." She then shuffled the cards and drew the first one, revealing the first name. "Jaiden."

Jaiden blinked and shrugged. "Well, I had a good run.”

Calliope shuffled the cards again and drew the second card. "Hecuba."

"Are you serious?" Hecuba groaned, and no one really blamed her.

Calliope shuffled the cards and selected a third card. "Lisbet."

Lisbet whimpered from the back of the group.

Calliope shuffled the cards and selected the fourth card. "Delta."

I froze and I started to panic as this was the _second_ time I’d been voted for, and while I didn’t go into that previous challenge, the fact that I _was_ being targeted terrified me. "No, no, no, no, no!" I panicked. "That's not possible."

Calliope shuffled and chose the next card. "Parris."

"Are you serious?" Parris groaned.

Calliope kept shuffling and choosing the follow cards, getting the following reactions.

"Sasha."

"I knew it was coming at some point,” Sasha sighed. “I just didn't think it would be now."

"Orpheus."

"F*," Orpheus groaned.

"Rene."

"Wonderful," she sighed sarcastically.

"Ines."

"Figures," she huffed.

"Bretman."

"B*," he smirked. "I am ready."

_‘_ _I’m going against Bretman,’_ I thought, my heart racing with fear. _‘I’m going to_ lose _against him!’_

"Joey."

"You can't be serious," he groaned.

"Tyler."

"Oop!"

"Andrea Russett."

"Well, that's fan-fu*ng-tastic."

"Liza."

"Can Jet take my place?"

“Genevieve Atkinson."

"Excellent."

"And finally…" Calliope shuffled and drew the final card. "Ivy Flora."

Mystic eyes went wide and she stood up. "Okay, who the f* voted for Ivy?" she snapped.

"Mystic, chill out," Wynter sighed. "She was bound to get reaped."

"You sixteen follow me," Calliope said.

I got up and, swallowing, went over to stand next to Calliope and the others, we were just waiting for Ivy to join us.

Ivy stood up, but Mystic stopped her.

"Please come back safely, love,” she requested of her girlfriend. And make sure Genevieve and Andrea get back too.”

I felt a pang in my heart.  _‘Yeah, it makes sense,’_ I thought as Ivy briefly kissed Mystic on the lips before joining us,  _‘Mystic’s close to them, but still…’_ I still couldn’t help but feel like no one else in the group even cared that I was going into a challenge that would mean me either being mind-controlled  _or_ dead.

_‘_ _I’m going to win this challenge,’_ I thought, follow Calliope and the group out of the dining hall,  _‘and I’m going to_ prove  _that I’m_ useful _, that I have_ skills _, and that I’m not just freakin’_ invisible _!’_ No matter what, I was going to come back as a winner and prove to the group once and for all that I shouldn’t be excluded anymore.

I hoped.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Who keeps voting for me?! Does anyone care if I'm going to come back from this final death challenge alive? Anyone at all? Bye for now! R&R everyone!


	11. CHAPTER TEN: LEECHES! WHY?!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, world and welcome back to Escape the Night!
> 
> It's time for the next final death challenge, and poor Delta is going into the challenge this time. Onward!

**CHAPTER TEN: LEECHES! WHY?!**

*****

I was shaking in my shoes and clinging to Ines’ arm as we all followed Calliope to where the challenge was going to be held, and I overheard Ivy talking with Penelope and Andrea R.

“’Ey,” she was saying to them. “Mystic wants me te make sure you an' Genevievealso make it.”

“Thanks,” said Andrea R., who was looking relieved.

Once again I felt that pang in my heart, and did my best to force it down, which didn’t help that I was in panic mode already. “This can't be happening," I gulped. "This  _cannot_ be happening."

"Well, it is," Orpheus snapped. "So stop deluding yourself."

I shot him a look, which did help ease my panic a bit…not a lot, but it did ease it enough so I could focus better.

"I just wanna get this over with," Sasha moaned. "I wanna go home."

"Well, some of us _aren't_ going home," Ines sighed. "If I get zombified, I'll just disassociate myself to Camp Half-Blood."

“I’ll join you,” I told Ines. “Rather there then here.” And she gave me a small smile in return.

"Good luck with that," Orpheus scoffed.

"Oh look," Rene sighed unenthused. "There's Miss Stepford and her children.”

I looked around and my panic returned, ‘cause sure enough, Carol and a number of the zombie campers were waiting for us by a number of stations that’d been set up near the lake, and they all were smiling super creepy at all sixteen of us.

“Welcome possibly future campers dontchaknow!" Carol exclaimed with her deranged smile.

"Just get on with it," Ines sighed.

Carol nodded and one of the guards stepped forward.

"Okay, get on a number and remember that number,” he instructed us. “That's the number your stations will be designated with. On her go, you'll rush over to the tent and set it up. Then you'll go up ahead, set up a fire pit, and light a fire only with the materials given to you. Then you will go over to that plate of s'mores and eat the entire plate using _only_ your mouth. Any use of your hands in that part will force you out of the challenge for 30 seconds. Then you will have to tie a sturdy knot to connect two ropes. Finally you will go to one of the canoes down yonder and row back over to the dock on your right. The first 8 to do so will be safe. The bottom 8 will run the course again. Then the bottom 4. The top scorers of the bottom 4 will become campers, and the bottom 2 scorers will be killed."

"Oop!" Tyler gasped.

"Get on a number!" the guard snapped.

We all just rushed to a number. I looked down and saw that I was number seven while Ines was number eight. _‘Ok, if I’m not in the top eight the first time around,’_ I thought, eying the stations and hoped that I could remember everything I’d learned from Girl Scouts and Young Women’s camp despite the stress, _‘then I’ll have a second chance of getting through this challenge as myself…I hope.’_

Stress and I didn’t always get along, so I was hoping that I could overcome the stress and come out on top.

“On your marks, get set…" Carol began and awhistle blew, leaving us all looking confused. "That means go dontchaknow!”

And with that, I was off like a shot, running for the number 7 station, where I saw everything that I needed for tent building…except for instructions, but I just threw myself into the project, focusing on what I needed to do and was ignoring everyone else.

I admit that I did screw up once, but I was able to fix the mistake, and I soon had the tent up and ready. I then ran for the next station, aware that four people were still struggling with the tents, so I knew that I wasn’t in last place, but I was in danger of having to go through this a second time around.

I reached the fire pit, where I immediately knelt down, keenly aware that Ivy was giving hints to Andrea R. and Genevieve, but I already knew what to do. I quickly and effectively organized the sticks into a rectangle, stuffed it with laundry lint and kindling, and I picked up a flint and steel.

I easily hit the flint across the steel several times until enough sparks flew out and caught on the laundry lint, and I carefully blew on it until it caught the kindling – leading to a fire. I jumped and ran for the next station, not far behind Ivy, Andrea R., Geneviene, Liza, Bretman, and Tyler.

_‘_ _Ok, I’m in seventh place,’_ I thought, reaching the station that had twenty-eight s’mores waiting on a plate for me.  _‘I’m still in this, no matter what.’_ I clasped my hands behind my back, and, began tearing into the s’mores, making sure that I didn’t dry my mouth out in the process.

I was aware of Tyler and Liza both moaning about having to eat sweets, which was understandable since they’d gone through this two times now, and I was already halfway through my when Genevieve and then Bretman both finished and were running for the next station.

I ignored this and was finishing up, somehow not throwing up in the process, when Ivy and Andrea R. ran off, and I was soon giving chase to the knot-tying station, which mean I was now in fifth place. To be honest, knot-tying wasn’t really all that hard for me, and I was fairly quick in making a sturdy knot on my first try.

I ran for the lake, where the final station was, and found the canoes – without any paddles, and my heart sank, especially since Bretman was already heading out with Genevieve not far behind. Taking a breath, and glad that I was wearing long jeans, I got on top of the canoe and used my legs as paddles, alternating between them to avoid tiring myself out too fast.

Andrea R. and Ivy were getting ahead of me when Genevieve screamed, and we all saw that she had a bunch of black things on her legs – and I realized that they were freakin’ leeches! I felt something slimy trying to get under my pants leg and I ended up losing ground as I kicked until it went flying off into the water.

“Oh, those are medicinal leeches dontchaknow!” Carol called out, cackling.

_‘_ _Witch! Evil witch!’_ I thought, struggling to get my canoe across the water while doing my level best not to freak out whenever one of the dammed leeches tried to latch itself onto my legs. And I eventually reached the dock, just in time to see Orpheus running back toward the dining hall, Genevieve was getting bandaged up, Joey, Bretman, Tyler, Liza, Ivy, and Andrea R. were there, too.

I realized that I was in the bottom with Ines, Lisbet, Hecuba, who was crying, Jaiden, Parris, Sasha, and Rene, and my heart sank. I was going to have to go through the challenge a second time, and that meant I would either win, become a dreaded Stepford camper, or just plain out die.

I was  _honestly_ terrified as the winners all headed back to the dining hall, and I was wishing that I was going with them as we were all escorted back around the lake to run through the challenge a second and  _final_ time.

Was I going to survive, or was this it for me?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Crap! Delta has to go through the challenge again! Bye for now! R&R everyone!


	12. CHAPTER ELEVEN: VICTORY!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, world and welcome back to Escape the Night!
> 
> Delta is having to go through the final death challenge a second time, so please, pray for her. Onward!

**CHAPTER ELEVEN: VICTORY!**

*****

I  _couldn’t_ believe that I was going through this challenge a second time in a row, but those were the rules, and if I failed this time around, then I would either end up as one of the Stepford campers or dead. Neither of the bad options agreed with me, and I was  _super_ determined to be one of the winners this time around.

We were waiting for them to reset the stations, which meant removing eight of the ones that were no longer needed, and we all were assigned new numbers, so I was number five and Ines was number six.

_‘_ _I don’t want any of my friends to be turned into campers or to die,’_ I thought, trying to remain calm, which wasn’t easy, especially with Hecuba whimpering nearby,  _‘but I don’t want to be mind-controlled or dead either.’_ I was stuck between a rock and a hard place, for while I didn’t want to lose, I didn’t want to see anyone else die either, and I’d already seen that happen three times – three times too many.

I was pulled out of my thoughts when it was announced that the stations were ready, and we all got into position on our new numbers.  _‘Ok, second time’s the charm…I hope.’_

The second that Carol blew the whistle, I ran for the first station, throwing myself into building the tent, making no mistakes this time, and the second that the last peg was hammered into place, I was up and running for the fire pit.

*****

Reaching it, I dropped to my knees and went to work, even faster then last time, and I soon had a fire going strong while I ran for the s’more station. Like before, I dug into the s’mores, keeping my hands behind my back, and I didn’t care that I was getting messy. I wasn’t paying attention to the others, and I ran for the knot-tying station the second that I was done eating, having managed not to throw up a second time in a row.

*****

I reached the knot-tying station, made another sturdy knot, which was different from last time, and I ran for the canoes, determined to make it across that blasted lake, leeches or no leeches. I got onto the nearest canoe and began kicking with my legs, ignoring anything slimy that brushed against my legs, and headed for the dock on the other side of the freezing water.

*****

I was  _so_ focused on the kicking rhythm of my legs that I didn’t realized that I’d reached the dock until I  _literally_ ran into it, and almost fell into the water. I managed, however, to grab the ladder and pulled myself onto the dock, where I became aware that some leeches had managed to get onto my left leg, and I yelped.

Two of the guards hurried forward, helped get the three leeches off my leg, and bandaged it up. I stood up and realized that I was the first to reach the dock, Sasha, Ines, and Parris weren’t too far behind, while Hecuba, Lisbet, Rene, and Jaiden were struggling.

“Delta! Get back to the dining hall!” Ines called out.

I started and then I ran back to the dining hall as fast as I could, which wasn’t easy since I was already exhausted, but I also didn’t want to see four friends lose, and Ines clearly didn’t want me to witness anymore deaths either.

*****

“Oh thank the Lord!” I shouted upon entering the dining hall, and I ended up tripping over my own feet, face-planting on the hard floor, but for once, I didn’t even care, for I was alive and back with the group.

“What the hell happened?" Lenox asked. "Where are the others?”

Before I could answer, I heard footsteps running up from behind, and I ducked as Sasha leapt over me.

“I’m back!”

I uncovered my head and looked up just as Wynter started to ask a question.

“That’s two. What about-?”

“Here I am!” Ines ran up and helped me back onto my feet so that we were able to move to a table, where I slumped in a chair and got out my inhaler, using it for the first time since I got dragged into this mess, for I’d felt my chest tightening up a little.

“Wait, so…you three made it…only one more?" Joey asked.

"It s*, but it's better than all of us dying," Sasha remarked, shaking her head a little. "Get those spare jars ready, Genevieve.”

_‘_ _Two jars,’_ I thought as Genevieve got them ready,  _‘two jars for the two souls of the two who will end up dying.’_ I hated thinking of how two would become zombie campers and two others would end up dying.

I was pulled out of my thoughts when I heard someone running through the doors, and Parris appeared.

“I made it! I made it!”

“Dude, what the hell happened?" Sybille asked. "You look like you've seen an f*ing ghost!"

"Wait," Lenox exclaimed. "Then that means…Jaiden…Hecuba…Lisbeth…and Rene…"

Sasha nodded sadly. "Jaiden and Rene got turned into the campers,” she informed us. “Then they had to…shoot Hecuba and Lisbet into the water with bows and arrows. And because there was an s'more-eating section…and that's a lake full of leeches…"

"I'm telling you," Mystic huffed. "Me dying would solve all of this."

"F*ing how?!" Nikita exclaimed. "You may have gotten us into this mess, you may not have, but you're the only one who can stop it!"

"At any rate," Envy exclaimed, pulling out Carol's token piece. "We have half of the 4th token. We're…we're over halfway to ending this."

"Okay, yeah, that's great and all," Aoibhe interrupted bluntly. "But how long do we have until things go to s*?!?"

"Who's gonna tell them?" Mystic asked looking over to Ro and Gabbie.

"You do it," Gabbie shrugged. "You said you would."

Mystic took a deep breath. "Okay, so…a little ways back, I was able to eavesdrop on the Cursed God… and the Blood Moon is coming soon…”

_‘_ _Blood moon?’_ I thought, not liking the sound of that, and I recalled having heard it mentioned twice before.  _‘That_ can’t  _be a good thing.’_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Delta made out alive…and no one is excited to see her alive. Bye for now! R&R everyone!


	13. CHAPTER TWELVE: BAD NEWS TIME

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, world and welcome back to Escape the Night!
> 
> The final death challenge is done, Delta has managed to survive, and bad news is being shared, basically overshadowing her win. Onward!

**CHAPTER TWELVE: BAD NEWS TIME**

*****

The room became  _super_ quiet after Mystic made that announcement, and it was  _so quiet_ that I could hear crickets chirping away outside somewhere.

I didn’t want to be the one to break the silence, but there were questions that needed to be answered about what the Blood Moon was, which I recalled Gabbie had mentioned when we had been held prisoner in the chocolate factory.

It’d also been brought up when we were on the island before the Cursed God and his minions showed up, and I was starting to suspect that the Blood Moon was a bad thing for, not just Mystic, but for all of us in general.

“Wait, what's the Blood Moon?" Aoibhe asked loudly.

"It's when magic's at its most powerful," Gabbie sighed. "Which means the Cursed God could use his magic to work around that loophole of 'he can't use magic to make Mystic fall in love with him.'"

"Which means he could get Mystic to marry him and lower the barrier," Ro finished.

Immediately the group went into gasps and exclamations.

"Why didn't you tell us this sooner?!?" Tristen gasped.

"What the f* do we do now?" Lenox asked.

"Oh my God, we gotta get outta here!" Briar exclaimed, and we all rushed out of the dining hall.

*****

Exiting the dining hall to find some place else to hide, I noticed that Ivy and Mystic were heading off together again, and they were being joined by Andrea R.

I wasn’t sure of where they were going, but I didn’t have a chance to find out since Ines was pulling me in the other direction, following the biggest part of the group.

*****

After a while, Ines and I ended up getting separated, and I found myself completely alone, unsure of where everyone had gone.

_‘_ _Great, I’m lost in a camp with Stepford campers,’_ I thought, ducking behind a tree and watched as Rene and Jaiden walked by with the creepy smiles on their faces, heading to a table to do an arts and craft project of some kind,  _‘and I have_ no  _idea of where anyone else. Poor Rene and Jaiden…’_

I hated seeing them like this, especially since they’d been made to kill off Hecuba and Lisbet, whose bodies were now at the bottom of the lake, and yet, I knew that there was nothing that I could do for them.

Yes, I managed to survive a final death challenge, even if it meant going through it twice in order to win, and while I hated that friends got brainwashed and killed, I did feel some degree of happiness for having won at all.

And yet, the feelings of being left out, excluded, and being invisible, they still wouldn’t go away, and I could feel them starting to creep up on me once again, trying to overwhelm me like that last night on the island and during the disaster at the North pole.

I forced them away, and went in search of everyone, not wanting to be alone anymore. I didn’t like to be alone, and I really,  _really_ didn’t want to be left out anymore.

To Be Continued…

*****

_I have so many, so many regrets._

_So many lies, so many broken ties._

_I wish for my old life._

_Wish I could fix my strike._

_Cause no one truly escapes the night._

_Oh, won't you help me escape the night._

_Oh baby help me escape the night._

_Escape the night._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Delta isn't having a good day, she's lost sight of the others in the mad rush to leave the dining hall, and things just keep going downhill no matter what she does or tries to do. Bye for now! R&R everyone!

**Author's Note:**

> Delta has a lot of skills, especially for camping, now if someone would just give her a chance to use them and prove herself. Bye for now! R&R everyone!


End file.
